It ripped lives apart, divided communities and nearly crippled the economy. Now, in a special investigation, Adam Jupp brings you the untold story of the miners' strike.

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Secret papers hidden for 20 years today reveal the hidden truth of the miners' strike.

We have accessed never-seen-before documents about the 1984-85 dispute which lift the lid on the true scale of the financial strain caused by the strike and gives details of the hostility and violence towards workers breaking the picket line.

And today a miners' leader accused the Home Office of trying to `sex up' stories of intimidation.

Our probe reveals:

The Home Office was disappointed at a lack of "tragic tales" from the picket lines

North East police reached crisis point due to the crippling costs

Women were targeted for intimidation

Nearly 1,000 police officers were deployed to ensure one man was able to break a picket line

More than 1,100 arrests were made in Durham and Northumberland

Nearly 40 police officers were injured in the first seven months

The North East was renowned for well-staffed picket lines.

We used the Freedom of Information Act to get hold of more than 30 documents from the Home Office about the strike.

They include briefings for ministers, internal notes and memos and figures for arrests and injuries during the strike.

The document that has sparked the most controversy is a letter from a Home Office civil servant to Michael Portillo, who was a special adviser to chancellor Norman Lamont until November 1984.

Dated July 16 1984 and covered in hand-written notes, it reads: "Dear Michael, I attach a note from the police on intimidation and a note on numbers arrested and of police injured. I hope that these prove useful for the Chancellor's speech.

"I should say that the numbers of cases of intimidation may not be too accurate since they are collected by different forces on different bases, so I am led to understand. It would be better, therefore, to make broad brush assertions and give examples."

But the line that has angered former miners the most is: "I am afraid that most of these (examples of intimidation), are, however, not the stuff of which tragic tales are easily made. But the overall picture is extremely damning."

After the Chronicle showed it to Ian Lavery, president of the National Union of Miners and a former striking miner, he said: "What do they want? Someone to have died on a picket line so it would make for a better speech?

"What this shows is that people like politicians were desperate to put out a message that there was a lot of violence caused by the striking miners but that wasn't the case.

"To say `not the stuff of which tragic tales are easily made' is scandalous. This simply shows that they wanted tragic tales in the speeches but it wasn't really happening on the ground. To me, they were real enemy within, not the miners.

"It's obscene to write in that fashion to an out-spoken member of the government that you want tragic tales."

Mr Lavery, who worked at Northumberland's Ellington Colliery, said: "It's taken along time to get this kind of information. It's 22 years since the miners' strike and I'm delighted that it is a paper from the North East that has taken it on board that we should be looking at the situation.

"And let's hope that the investigation by the Chronicle can unravel a whole number of things that developed during that bitter dispute."

We also received a string of documents that show the number of people arrested in each police force at different times during the strike.

Papers also show that during the dispute 637 people were arrested in Northumbria and 487 in Durham, giving a regional total of more than 1,100, compared to areas like North Wales, where 31 were arrested, and Hampshire, where 11 were locked up.

Another document catalogues the pickets running in Durham and Northumberland during August 1984. An entry for August 20 reads: "At Ellington in Northumbria, 250 pickets and two working miners. Entrance affected: 8 arrests."

And on August 21, it states: "2,000 pickets at Brodsworth but safe entry achieved for the one working miner at 1215 hours. 40 PSUs deployed."

A further document reveals that 40 PSUs (Police Support Units) is as many as 1,000 police officer, just to get one person into work. It describes a commitment of 45 PSUs to a Derbyshire picket and reveals that works out at 1,035 PCs.

Other details from the picket log include, from August 20: "In Durham, a picket of 1,000 at Easington Colliery prevented the safe entrance of the one miner wanting to return to work. One working miner at Allerton Bywater, where 50 pickets used two NCB vans as a barricade."

On a document attached to the letter sent to Mr Portillo, a civil servant writes: "It is well-known that such large numbers will always attend in the North East areas to thwart any attempt to return to work. Particular hostility has always been shown to female members working at Philadelphia Workshops, but this is confined to verbal abuse at the site."

Another document reveals police kept of log of every picket in each county.

The Chronicle was unable to contact Michael Portillo about the letter sent to him from a Home Office official.

Our probe revealed police had kept records of all incidents of intimidation by striking miners in Durham and Northumberland.

Michael Portillo, then deputy to chancellor Norman Lamont, had details of these incidents sent to him for a speech.

The report states:

At Ashington Coal Company, a watchman was threatened after confronting two men who stated they intended to damage machinery.

A transport organiser at the NCB Area HQ, received a threatening telephone call from a person who stated `he would receive a visit' unless the transport was stopped

A coach hire company boss at Westerhope, Newcastle, received a telephone call threatening to set fire to his property if he participated in the transportation of miners to work

A haulage contractor at Bedlington, who transported coal, received a telephone threat and a few days later all his lorry windscreens were smashed when the vehicles were parked overnight

Plant machinery was tampered with at private open cast sites

In relation to Durham, it adds:

17 cases were reported of damage to property

Nfour private cars had their paintwork scratched and tyres slashed, and a police vehicle was bombarded with missiles

Five Heavy Goods Vehicles had brake pipes cut, dials and wipers smashed and stones thrown through their windscreens

Washing plant equipment was damaged and coal screen belts were cut

A bulldozer has had sugar placed in the fuel system and a mechanical digger valued at #38,000 was stolen from a site and deliberately crashed into a tip

A further case of intimidation, involved a dog of an unconforming miner being beaten unconscious

On one occasion a haulier was asked to make contributions to a strike fund and threatened with removal from a list of approved persons who are allowed to transport coal

Further cases of threats to cause damage and three cases of threats of violence were recorded.

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Crippled by costs

Within months of the strike starting in March, 1984, police admitted they were crippled by the cost.

In a letter released for the first time to the Chronicle, Peter Dawson, then chief executive of Durham County Council, wrote to Home Secretary Leon Brittan, telling of the Durham Police Authority's plight.

It states that up to the end of June, 1984, three months into the strike, Durham Constabulary had spent #471,051 more than it normally would.

It adds: "The on-going cost of additional over-time and policing the Durham coalfield is #37,000 per week. There is no provision whatsoever for this in the police budget. In addition, further expenditure of #157,519 is rechargeable to other authorities relating to Durham officers seconded to their forces."

The Home Office had initially wanted police forces to absorb the extra costs themselves. But, in a reply to the Durham letter, we can reveal they decided to make special payments of 40% of any extra costs brought about by the strikes.

However, these payments would only kick-in once a certain amount of extra cash had been used by each force. In Durham, this was #590,518.

A system of mutual aid was brought in, meaning forces from different parts of the country could help each other with the costs of policing.

But a letter released in our probe reveals Northumbria Police did not want to help other forces.